I’m venting here: Why must everything in our society be about consumption? I receive SourceNet bulletins every morning, typically requests from reporters for interview subjects and quotable experts, and was excited to see that Kid Tips Magazine was seeking suggestions for what children can give for Father’s Day. My immediate thought: “Great! Can we encourage kids to make something rather than buy something?”Read More

One of the basic tenets of attachment parenting is that babies sleep in the same bed as the Mom (and, hopefully, the Dad). This is a great thing and we’re definite enthusiasts of this facet of attachment parenting, but there’s a challenge involved…Read More

I have to admit that I’m a bit curmudgeonly about Mother’s Day: I feel like as a family we honor the role and never-ending job of motherhood every day and don’t need a commercialized holiday originally started by Hallmark Cards to tell us that it’s important to say thanks. But, somehow societal pressures are effective and while we’re not doing much to celebrate Mother’s Day, our children are, and, of course, we do have the…Read More

It’s been almost 10 days now, and G- continues to amaze and impress with his bicycling skills. We went on a 1.5 mile bike ride this morning, including some dirt trails and he did fabulously. He kept up, made it up The Big Hill without having to stop and walk, and this on a little “Pretty Puppy” bike (a hand-me-down from his sister) with no gears. Amazing. One tip: when it’s time to pull off…Read More

Since we’d like to increase our readership here on Attachment Parenting, we’re offering a great promotion that you’ll want to take advantage of: add a link to our site and if you bring in the most visitors in the next 60 days, you’ll win a $25 gift certificate to Amazon.com! No small print. Well, one detail. The link has to be exactly:   <a href=”http://www.APparenting.com/”>attachment parenting</a> That’s all there is. In sixty days, the Fourth…Read More

I’m visiting the discussion communities on social Web site Orkut this evening and found an interesting discussion in their “Parenting” community. It’s a community that has a lot more in common with Parent magazine than Mothering magazine, that’s for sure. The discussion of the evening was about when a baby is too young to be in a stroller. The person asking the question was asking about a baby that was only three weeks old. Of…Read More

A most amazing thing has occurred in the last two days: G-, our four year old son, decided that he didn’t want training wheels on his bicycle any more, so he took them off and *instantly* knew how to ride without them. It’s quite a remarkable sequence of events and hard to realize that it’s only been 48 hours when he zips down the driveway, turns onto the sidewalk and confidently rides up to the…Read More

We survived what everyone else has also hopefully survived in the last few weeks: we finished and filed our taxes. On time. We’re also trying to look at our taxes (and trying to avoid tax scams) within the context of our overall personal finances. Which reminds me: if you haven’t checked it out yet, you might be interested to know that we’re building on a debt management information site called real life debt. If you…Read More

Here’s a fascinating article I bumped into on Newsday that, while it doesn’t directly apply to us since our oldest is only 7 1/2, eventually will: Biological Reason for Teen Laziness If you’re a teenager, don’t read this. Federal scientists may have discovered a biological excuse for laziness. Studies conducted on adolescents and young adults show significant differences between the two age groups in the brain region that governs “drive,” the internal momentum to work…Read More

Perusing the latest reports from the American International Toy Fair and I came across a depressing report from Wired News, where they state that “At the 101st annual American International Toy Fair, held this week in New York, there were very few toys that didn’t include computer chips somewhere in their innards. But vendors promise the singing, puking, engine-revving, chatting, TV-interacting toys will be easy to assemble and play with” What most saddens me, I…Read More

I’m really appalled at a Web site I’ve just visited, for a company called Safe T Sleep. Check it out for yourself: they’re selling a baby straitjacket. No kidding. A device that you wrap around your mattress and then around the midsection of a baby (age 0-3, they say) and they’re then immobilized. If you can handle it, they even have a movie of how the product is used… This has got to be the…Read More

I’m happy to share that Linda and I have been working on an online Waldorf bookstore called Shining Light Books and Google’s not only seen it, but we’re the #1 match for the search “waldorf books”. That’s great, because once we get everything built and our final design in place, our intent is to share a percentage of our profits with one or more Waldorf organizations, starting with AWSNA, the Association of Waldorf Schools of…Read More

The addition of a new baby to the family has proven interesting. For the first two weeks, while Mom was in bed recovering with the tiny one, everything went smoothly. The last week, however, Linda has been up and about, much more involved in the day-to-day of our family life. And our daughter A- has had a really hard time with it. Not directly, however. She’s thrilled with the baby, eager for maximal Mom time,…Read More

Well, the big news in our household is… it’s a girl!. We had our third homebirth – in a birthing tub this time around – it went swimmingly, and she’s a healthy 7lb, 6oz newborn, cute as a button, but no name yet… And after being unimpressed with the baby name Web sites on the net, I built a new one for us to use as we explore almost 10,000 different names, and you’re certainly…Read More

It’s 2004. Do you know where your children are, and what they’re doing? 🙂Read More

Two weeks ago we had both kids sleeping on the floor in our bedroom, having gradually moved from family bed to “family bedroom”. That was nice, but as part of our whirlwind of home improvements, we repainted and bought all new furniture for both our kids, G- (3 1/2) and A- (7). The night we put it all together, the two of them slept – for the first time – in A’s room. And oh,…Read More

One of the most insidious problems on the Internet today is the same thing that makes it a remarkable and fascinating place: it’s completely egalitarian and everyone has a voice. Everyone, including lots of people that I want to protect my children from encountering. And that, of course, brings up the topic of online pornography: whether or not you think it should be online, and whether or not it’s legal, it’s quite likely something you…Read More

As the days get shorter we are starting to really see a change in both of our children, a change for the better. A- just turned 7 a few days ago and is acting more and more like a young lady (and part-time comedian), and G-, who has been so difficult at times in the last few months, is really starting to mellow out and become a much more enjoyable companion. Linda actually took them…Read More

This morning, my daughter A- (almost 7) and son G- (3 1/2) were sitting in the kitchen preparing to eat waffles for breakfast. In our house, rather than syrup, we tend to put a nut butter on the waffles, so this morning it was almond butter. Except A- couldn’t open the jar. She handed it to her brother and asked him to help out and… he opened it for her. A glimpse of the future,…Read More

Q.  How many anthroposophists does it take to screw in a light bulb? A.   I don’t know.  Steiner never gave an indication. Q.  How many Waldorf teachers does it take to screw in a light bulb? A.   Seven: One to read the verse, one to light the candle, one to sound the chime,  one to compose the request to the administrator, two to review the request to the administrator, and one to lead the closing song….Read More

As if there aren’t more important things to worry about in the modern world, apparently a newswoman had the temerity to breastfeed her newborn baby while on television, and now Australia is embroiled in a great discussion on the matter. You can learn more about it at the BBC World Service, where they’ve an article appropriately entitled Australian breastfeeds live on TV. The only good thing is that because they’re Aussies, the people against the…Read More